Teacher burnout in the time of Covid-19: Antecedents and psychological consequences

Abstract

The important, frontline role of teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic has often gone unrecognized, and attention to their mental health and well-being is often only the focus of scholarly research. The unprecedented challenges that teachers faced during the COVID-19 pandemic and the stresses and strains associated with it have severely impacted their psychological well-being. This study examined the predictors and the psychological consequences of burnout. Participants (N = 355) were schoolteachers in South Africa who completed the Perceived Vulnerability to Disease Questionnaire, the Fear of COVID-19 Scale, the Role Orientation Questionnaire, the Maslach Burnout Inventory, the Centre for Epidemiological Depression Scale, the Beck Hopelessness Scale, the Satisfaction with Life Scale, and the trait scale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory.